I bought one for my daughter a few years back, but have custody as she is presently living in NYC. We've fired it a bit and it's a very nice gun, accurate, mild recoil, reliable and......loud! The report is a high pitched crack.

I provided some testimony to local politicians who were actually trying to ban sale of the product after the TX shooting.

My point to them was that this was essentially a proprietary system marketed by FN with ballistic characteristics similar to many other rounds. As a result of being relatively expensive and being overlapped by many other products, there was unlikely to be any particular public safety concern. For example, the .22 Winchester Magnum (rimfire) has a max of around 320 ft lbs of energy compared to up to 400 ft lbs for the 5.7 and 420 for the 9mmP.

It's also true that as a result of those factors, it may be a bit of a rare bird and even collectible. I have a Smith & Wesson 1006 chambered in 10mm ACP that I shoot just for the fun of it. That round has some crazy ballistics: energy of 650 to 750 ft lbs.

lusted after one for years. high purchase price along with exclusivity of ammo are the only two things holding me back

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Ammo availability is another reason for my hesitation-- we're pretty mainstream around here.

For that matter, I'm not sure where I'd even buy the pistol yet.

I really do like what I've read about that 5.7 mm load, though: rifle cartridge characteristics in a pistol. This is, in fact, the reason I haven't splurged for a 1911 even with its easy weapon/ammo availability.

Coupled with a PS90, it seems like you'd have all the home/personal defense bases covered with ammo common to the two.

My only worry is the only guns I can find chambered for the round are this 1911, and then a guy is doing some custom work with it in 1911's that are 50% more expensive, and some M-4's. Having the 9mm kit come with the gun helps a bit with that though. If the ammo dries up hopefully by then I'll be able to fire a 9mm without an issue. Right now I can handle a 38 special out of a S&W model 52 but even then I'm only really getting one shot in any defense situation because I have to let the recoil bring the gun up a decent bit to lessen the load on my hands/wrists.

Has anyone reloaded for it ? I reload most calibers that I shoot and with the cost of ammo for the 5-7 it only makes sense to order up a set of dies if you're going to shoot it with any regularity. I think it's a pretty decent round ballistically. I wouldn't mind having one in the safe.

Has anyone reloaded for it ? I reload most calibers that I shoot and with the cost of ammo for the 5-7 it only makes sense to order up a set of dies if you're going to shoot it with any regularity. I think it's a pretty decent round ballistically. I wouldn't mind having one in the safe.

I considered it, since it's about he same cost as the Browning Hi Power I did buy, but I was dissuaded by the cost of the ammo, 3 or 4 x time cost of bulk 9mm. Since I'm buying my first higher power autoloader, I wanted something cheap to feed at the range.

But that five seven sure has a heck of a round, I'd love to try one. With the recoil on it, it aught to be about the fastest thing around on a follow up shot.

I owned one for a while, couple of years or so. A year or so ago you could buy the blue tip ammo for about $22 a box down to $20 at the bottom end.

The pistol was very nice, fit and finish, the way it pointed. I thought it would feel "fat" given that the magazine alone is about as big as a 1911 grip. But no such problems... it actually felt like a Hi-Power. Swapping the magazine release to the other side was 10 minutes. Sights were very good. And don't let anybody tell you it's hammerless... it does have a hammer, it's just shrouded.

I had the chance to shoot the pistol with the blue tip, I forget what the designation was, and the hollowpoint load, not the restricted Gov't load or the frangible no lead load. I was a little dissapointed with the pistol's accuracy. I'm certainly no pistol virtuoso, but I can generally manage to keep it in the black. For some reason or other the F-N never seemed to settle down and shoot consistently. I wondered if it wasn't a break in thing, but I got close to 500 rounds thru it before I traded it off, and it never really started working for me.

But overall, it was an excellent pistol. No ambi safety, so for me, carrying locked and cocked just didn't work. And finding a holster to fit it was a bit of a challenge, I wound up modifying some 40mm greanade pouches for magazine holders. It IS a lot of cheddar for a pistol, but FN makes some nice stuff.

Right now I can handle a 38 special out of a S&W model 52 but even then I'm only really getting one shot in any defense situation because I have to let the recoil bring the gun up a decent bit to lessen the load on my hands/wrists.

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Maybe look into the Chiappa Rhino? The configuration of the firing cylinder and grip supposedly greatly reduces muzzle flip and felt recoil.